


I'll Wear You Like A Halo

by TomiTom



Series: Reguri Week 2020 [4]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Champions are gods, Grief/Mourning, Intimacy, M/M, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Pagan Gods, Sexual Content, Temporary Amnesia, Temporary Character Death, everything is fine now, in the past, kind of public sex?, not horribly explicit but more than implied, really really brief, true love saves the day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-24
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:48:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26410633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomiTom/pseuds/TomiTom
Summary: Reguri Week Day 4Champions couldn't die, but Green did anyways. Dead things didn't come back, but Green did anyways.
Relationships: Ookido Green | Blue Oak/Red
Series: Reguri Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1933411
Comments: 5
Kudos: 83





	I'll Wear You Like A Halo

**Author's Note:**

> And it's Reguri Week 2020, fourth day: Alternate Universes or Galar
> 
> So, this went a little out of hand.
> 
> Truth be told, I wanted to do something about Galar, but I already did Alola yesterday, so I wanted to spice it up. Hope I understood right that this meant creating an AU and not like, Manga 'verse or something. Well, fuck, I'm the writer and make my own rules. This was purely self-indulgent.
> 
> So, I went with one of my favorite AUs that I see way too little of. Here we are now, Gods!AU. Basically.
> 
> Also, this deals with a past temporary character death. There is no death on screen, but it is meantioned and the character who came back to live still deals with this. 
> 
> Have fun.

When he woke up and gasped for air, icy water filled his lungs in a rush. He clawed at his throat with his hands as his eyes widened in fear, and kicked his legs against the weeds wrapped around them. From way above, he could see light shining through the surface. What was he doing under water? Why was he here?

He was going to die down here if he didn’t do something. His chest burned and his throat hurt with the need to cough out the water he breathed in. His hands and feet were already growing numb in the cold. With his resolve steeled, he gritted his teeth against the pain and pushed off the soft, muddy ground. The slippery plants wrapped around his legs and arms fell back to the bottom as he himself rose with a few swift kicks of his legs.

When he broke through the surface, he immediately started coughing. His eyes stung with water and the bright light of the cloudy-white sky. He was barely able to keep himself afloat, so he took the last of his strength to bring himself to the shore.

He slumped on the frozen ground and coughed up the last of the water, then turned on his back as he tried to catch his breath. His hair stuck to his forehead. His skin was covered in goose bumps as if that was going to help something. His clothes were thin, mudded, and slimy, not enough to cover him against the biting cold of the wind. The tree tops reaching up into the pale sky were bare. The heavy clouds held promises of snow.

With a groan, he pushed himself up into a sitting position. His fingers and toes had started to tingle a little. His chest still hurt from the water he breathed in, and his throat felt like shit. He stared at the pool that he had come out of. The other half of it was covered in a thin sheet of ice. It seemed to be about two meters deep, not that deep but still enough to completely cover the existence of a body down on the ground.

He rubbed his arms and shivered. He was starting to get colder. He didn’t know what time it was or where he was, but he knew that he needed help, and soon. He couldn’t remember anything. How long had he been down there? Why? Who even was he?

Fear grasped his heart tightly when he came up blank for a moment. Then, he at least remembered one thing: Green. His name was Green. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

He pushed himself up on tired legs and almost lost his balance immediately. He caught himself, then made himself take one step after the other. He wrapped the flimsy cloth tighter around his body. They must have been beautiful garments made from delicate fabric, once, but now, they were reduced to nothing. Just like Green was.

He seemed to be in a small forest with tall trees and not much else. The silence that reigned here felt oppressing. It felt like no living creature had placed foot into this place in years. Maybe they hadn’t. For good reason, too, it seemed, as Green was left stumbling over way too many roots. He was sure he had cut open his bare feet on the rocks sticking out of the ground and it was a surprise that he hadn’t managed to twist his ankle just yet.

While he walked in whichever direction his instincts led him, he tried his best to sort through his still spinning head. There had to be more that he remembered about his life except his name. There were vague shapes and sounds – like faces, names, and voices that Green had forgotten. He felt empty. He shouldn’t be alone. He had … someone. Several someones, but Green had the feeling that he should be with a very certain someone right now. And he had the feeling that this person was the most important thing to him, he just knew it. Did he have a lover?

He mused over the tiny strands of memories that slipped through his fingers no matter how hard he tried to hold them, getting lost in thought while still walking through the forest. It had started snowing, now, and the ground quickly got covered in the white flakes. There were several cuts on Green’s feet and legs now from rocks and thorny vines, so his footprints were stained with red.

He couldn’t really feel his fingers anymore where they were clutching at his flimsy, still wet clothes to keep them from slipping from his cold body. He wasn’t sure what he was doing – why he was walking still, why he hadn’t already given up.

But then, he reached the edge of the forest and looked down a hill into a small town. Finally.

He stumbled down the hill, surely looking dead on his feet. The town seemed peaceful, even more so the closer he came. Children played in the rapidly falling snow. The lights in the houses shone through the windows, giving off a cozy atmosphere in the oncoming dusk.

They stared at him when he passed. The children, and, most importantly, the creatures. For some reason, Green knew they were called Pokémon. The knowledge made him irrationally angry – so he could remember that but he couldn’t remember the face or the name of the one most dear to him?

A small, brown Pokémon with big ears and extremely fluffy fur stopped in front of him. It looked up at him with big eyes, then mewled joyfully. For s split second, Green believed the little thing recognized him. But that probably wasn’t the case. Though the shape of this being seemed familiar, this specific one did not. Still, Green felt compelled to kneel down and pet it.

“There you are!” a voice called from nearby and Green looked up to see a black-haired man coming closer. “I told you a thousand times not to run away! You-” He broke off when he met Green’s gaze. “Oh.”

Green slowly got up to his feet again, much to the fluffy things protest. He felt a little self-conscious standing in front of a person who obviously had their life together – barefoot with his hair still slightly wet and clinging to his forehead, and of course the muddy cloth covered in algae. But this man looked at Green like he was the best thing to happen to this town.

“Come inside with us,” the man said. “We can help you.”

The creature at his feet squeaked in joyful agreement. Green wondered how stupid he would be if he did follow the man, but his instincts had led him to the town in the first place. Besides, the man looked like he had recognized Green. Like he knew him. Maybe he could help. Maybe he had answers.

The man introduced himself as Troy and offered Green a place to rest and warm up in his house. Not only that, but he and his wife Lisa also let him take a bath, gave him warmer clothes to wear, and took care of the wounds on his feet and legs. After Troy offered him some soup to eat and Green sat wrapped up in a blanket on the armchair in the couple’s living room, he felt almost good. Almost.

If there wasn’t that nagging feeling that he was missing something big right now. He saw it in the way the little fluffy brown creature – whose name Green still hadn’t asked – cuddled up to him as if it never wanted to be parted from him. He saw it in the almost reverent way Troy and Lisa treated him. He saw it in the way that he wasn’t dead after everything he had gone through today. He didn’t know much as of right now, but he did know that a normal mortal could not survive this.

A normal mortal …

The creature purred from where it had wrapped itself around Green’s neck like a scarf, and rubbed its face against Green’s as if it knew what he was thinking, and was trying to comfort him. The entire situation reminded him of something, but before he could even try to grasp the memory, it was gone, leaving nothing but a vague feeling of loneliness. It was getting more than frustrating.

Lisa entered the living room with Troy only steps behind her. While he sat down on the couch, she handed Green a cup with steaming hot tea, then joined her partner. Green raised the cup to his face but didn’t take a sip, instead he just sat there and enjoyed the warmth and pleasant scent.

“Thank you,” he said.

He hadn’t spoken much since he got here. His voice sounded weakened and scratchy, and talking made his throat hurt something awful. How long had he not spoken? Just another unanswerable question – as if Green didn’t already have enough.

“You don’t need to thank us! It’s what anyone would have done,” Lisa reassured.

Green felt his eyebrow twitch as he tried to keep his skeptic facial expression down. He wasn’t sure how many people would take in half-naked strangers in flimsy garb, who looked like they had lost a fight with a forest pond. He wasn’t sure how many people should.

“Yeah, we were just the first who found you,” Troy agreed. “Of course, we have our Eevee to thank for that.”

The brown fluffy creature on Green’s shoulder mewled in agreement. Green clenched his eyes shut when he started feeling a sharp sting of white hot pain in his head like a needle being poked right through his forehead. He made a quiet sound and pressed his hand to his head as if that would lessen the pain. The creature, the _Eevee_ , squeaked in concern. Green grabbed it from his shoulder and held it to his chest as he doubled over, trying in vain to escape the feeling.

The pain finally ended, leaving Green panting hard, still clutching the Eevee tightly, yet it didn’t seem to mind. During the whole incident, Green had felt as if some sort of memory was trying to fight its way back to the surface, and he could still feel remnants of it – the feeling of soft fur, of something gentle wrapped around his wrist, a melodious whistle.

He looked up and was faced with the concerned eyes of Troy and Lisa. He pulled himself back into an upright position and petted the Eevee in apology. It purred happily, as if it hadn’t been uncomfortable.

“Are you alright?” Lisa asked.

“Got a headache,” Green mumbled and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’m kinda in a rough place right now.”

The couple shared a look. Green tried to interpret it, but what he saw didn’t make much sense. It wasn’t as much pity as it was sympathy, sadness, relief, all in one. He was getting the feeling that Lisa and Troy might actually know him. They were a little too familiar with him, if Green’s instincts were to be believed. And so far, in the short time he could remember, they had never misled him.

“Of course. That’s to be expected after what you went through,” Troy said now with an understanding light in his dark eyes.

Green looked at him in disbelief. “You know what happened to me?”

Troy furrowed his brows and chuckled slightly, albeit nervously. He spoke hesitantly, as if unsure of the turn the situation had taken. “Of course. It hasn’t been that long.”

What hadn’t been that long? And _of course_? Like whatever happened to Green was common knowledge? The headache was returning with a vengeance. So Troy and Lisa really actually knew Green. Or of him, at the very least. They were familiar enough with him to know what had happened to him before he woke up on the bottom of the pool.

“Are you feeling alright?” Lisa asked, and before he could answer, she tacked on, “Champion Green?” to the end of her question like an afterthought.

From one moment to the next, Green’s headache got even worse, but this time, whatever had held his memories back was not strong enough, and they flooded his mind. He remembered.

His name was Green. He was one of the Champions, one of the immortal, powerful deities of the land. The Champion of ambition, to be exact. And …

He gasped, staring at nothing with widened eyes. “I died,” he breathed.

He had. The entire thing felt blurry. Champions weren’t able to die, not normally. But Green had. With the amount of dark energy that a group called Team Rocket had accidentally set free, all the Champions had come together to protect the world. And even they hadn’t been strong enough, until Green had come up with a way – connect himself to the pure light they found stored in the same place the darkness came from, and use it in what was essentially a bomb to drive out the darkness for good.

_“That’s suicide! Your essence will be scattered and destroyed along with the darkness!”_

_“It’s the only way!”_

An argument that had gone nowhere and finally ended with the other Champions agreeing with him.

_“Green, no. You can’t do this. You won’t recover, not this time.”_ A hand on his shoulder, beloved eyes begging him to reconsider. But Green’s mind had been made up.

_“Watch me.”_

A last desperate kiss shared with his lover. _“I will come back for you. Just wait.”_

Green remembered pain. To destroy the darkness, he had risen up into the sky. And after letting out the power of the light in a massive explosion, he had plummeted down to earth and finally crashed into the small lake he had woken up in just hours ago. His last moments of consciousness were dedicated to the one he loved.

_Wait for me, I’ll be back. Red …_

Green swallowed heavily. Champions couldn’t die, but their forms could be scattered so thinly that they would never regain consciousness. It was equivalent to death. Not even Champions recovered from that. And yet, Green had. Just as he had promised Red. Red …

“How long has it been?” Green asked, but his voice sounded far away, weak.

A pause. Then, Lisa said, “Twenty years.”

Twenty years. That’s how long he had been rotting in that stupid pond while he somehow still clung to life. The world had changed – the world still existed, so at least Green’s sacrifice had been the right thing to do.

Now, everything made sense that he had been confused about before. His instincts – a Champion was deeply connected with the land. How he didn’t drown, didn’t freeze, didn’t get himself hurt more. Why Troy and Lisa’s Eevee was so attached to him. Eevee and all its evolutions were Green’s sacred Pokémon, a mirror of his sphere of ambition – you could be anything if you tried hard enough.

“I was just a kid back then,” Troy said. “Thanks to you, I was able to grow up and have a family. The people of the world still worship you to this day. Some hoped that it would bring you back.”

Maybe that had played a role in it all – the emotional energy that connected Green to the people. That and his own stubbornness to return to Red. Talking about him …

“What about Red?” Just speaking his lover’s name made Green’s insides warm up for a moment.

Red was the Champion of power. Not the oldest of the entire bunch, but in the mind of Green and a lot of others, he was the strongest one. Since the moment the two of them came into existence, Green had strived to catch up to him only to find out that Red had never run. When their rivalry had turned into love, it had changed the world, all those centuries ago.

Troy seemed to hesitate for a moment. “After you … disappeared, Champion Red’s followers built a new temple for him on Mount Silver. Last we heard, he moved there and hasn’t returned since.”

“Mount Silver … what about our temple on the Indigo Plateau?”

Green and Red had been the only Champions that, instead of having a single temple each, had one large one built for both of them together.

“It still stands,” Lisa reassured. “And people still go there. Just not Champion Red.” She paused for a moment. “A new temple for you has also been made. In Viridian City.”

The place where they had found the light and darkness. How poetic.

“So, Red is still on Mount Silver?”

“Most likely. We never heard news of him leaving.”

Green nodded. “Then I have to get there.”

The Eevee still in Green’s arms squeaked in protest and looked at him with stern eyes. Green would never stop feeling weird being reprimanded by a small cuddly thing like an Eevee.

“He’s right,” Lisa chuckled. “Please, stay the night at least. You seemed very confused, you should rest a while longer.”

She seemed a little uncomfortable giving a Champion orders to sit down and rest, but Green appreciated it. She was right. His head was still swirling and he had just found out he had died and risen from the dead. Even as a Champion, that wasn’t something that you just easily worked through.

“Thank you.” It was all he could say.

\---------------------------

Green found himself in the bathroom a little while later. He had settled in the guest room after the couple’s insistence despite the fact Green had said several times he was happy sleeping on the couch – he felt strange here, no matter how nice these people were. They were mortal, and he was a Champion. One that just came back to life, no less. All that Green wanted was Red. He wondered if Red missed him just as much or if he had learned to move on in the twenty years.

He hated that thought. Everything in him refused to believe that Red would ever stray from him. That wasn’t in his nature. But, Green had to prepare if it was the case. It wasn’t like he would be able to blame Red for it either.

Trying to chase these thoughts away, he splashed his face with water from the sink, dried it off, and looked up into the mirror. He looked way better than he felt, and probably way better than he did stumbling into this town. Green tried to find a difference between now and back then, but things hadn’t changed at all – he still had his spiky orange hair, still the freckles dusting his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, and he still had the right hazel and the left mostly green eye.

He looked the same, but he didn’t feel it. He didn’t look like a Champion, not in his mind. He looked defeated, like death had taken a bigger toll on him than expected. He should be happy, he should be rejoicing – he had beat death itself, he had come back to life from something he should not have survived. But all he could think about was what he’d missed. The ones he’d left behind. His followers, his sacred Pokémon Eva, the Sylveon, his friends, and Red. What if, instead of moving on, Red just couldn’t forgive him for leaving him? It seemed like a faraway concept, but Green wasn’t sure what to believe right now. Twenty years could be nothing more than a blip in a Champion’s existence, or it could be the most important time. Nothing could have happened, but at the same time, everything could have changed.

He would only be able to find out once he made his way to Mount Silver and came face to face with Red again. At last.

But first, he really had to heed Lisa’s advice and rest. Champions technically didn’t need to sleep – or eat or drink or anything a mortal had to do – but Green couldn’t remember a time when he and his closest friends didn’t do these things. He enjoyed sharing food with his friends, he loved spending the day dozing and curled up in bed with Red. There was simplicity in these actions, and comfort. And that comfort was something that Green craved right this moment.

He was given sleep wear and the guest room for the night. The room was barer than the other rooms of the house Green had seen, but it didn’t feel empty. Through the door, he could hear Troy and Lisa putting their two young children to bed. He didn’t know what they told him, about Green being here. But they left him alone and Green was grateful. He didn’t know if he could deal with kids at the moment.

The only other one in the room was the family’s Eevee that wouldn’t leave Green alone. Green didn’t mind too much. He loved every Eevee and they loved him as well. It was the connection that came from being the protector of these Pokémon, and their status as his Sacred. However, it also made him miss Eva even more. He missed her weight on his shoulder, the way she would wrap her feelers around his upper arms. He missed her cuddling up to him whenever she could. This Eevee was cute and sweet and all, but he wasn’t Eva.

Still, Green picked him up, held him close, and let him cuddle up under his chin once they lay down in bed together. Eevee purred in contentment. Green allowed himself to be lulled to sleep by the familiar sound and tried to ignore the longing feeling in his heart.

\---------------------------

Once Green reached the dumb temple, he would have a serious word with Red. Who fucking put their temple on the top on an ice mountain? All in all, it made little sense. Humans were likely to get lost in the seemingly permanent snowstorms and freeze to death, and even Champions didn’t have their easiest ride up here. Besides, just because it couldn’t hurt him, Green could still feel the cold. And he didn’t like it. His insides already felt cold enough since he woke up.

He hoped he would reach the temple soon. As soon as he reunited with Red, he was going to go back to the Indigo Plateau and finally return to his place. He had asked Troy and Lisa to spread the message that Champion Green had returned, but he wasn’t sure how many people would believe them. It seemed a little farfetched, after all.

The wind tore at Green’s clothes. He wished he had a thicker coat, but he hadn’t felt right asking anything more of the family that had taken him in. Besides, he could shoulder a little snow and ice. He’d be fine. It would all be worth it once he saw Red again.

It seemed like that wouldn’t take too long anymore. He could finally see the shape of a building coming closer with each step he took through the knee-high snow. Green sighed in relief. His steps quickened as he approached his journey’s end.

The temple looked to be smaller from the outside, built from white marble like the other ones down below the mountain, but instead of wood, any accents were added with stone or metal, obviously to properly survive the unrelenting weather. The doors were heavy, but nothing for a Champion. They opened with a creak – it didn’t sound like they were opened frequently. Logical, since no-one in their right mind would go here.

The inside was … nothing like their temple. It was basically just one long room with dark and light gray marble plates on the floor, coal pans along the walls, and a large, dark red curtain hiding the other half of the temple from plain sight. It felt empty and even though the fire was bright in the pans, it felt cold.

The loud sound of the door falling shut behind him echoed in the quiet. The ceiling above was not very high, and in the same color as the rest of the walls – almost white marble. No paintings, no writings. It was completely silent, as well, safe for the crackling of the flames, and Green’s footsteps. He wanted to call out, make himself known, but it felt wrong. Everything here felt wrong. He knew instantaneously that something wasn’t right here, and that something had to do with Red.

Taking a deep breath, Green walked up to the curtain, but when he put a hand on it to pull it out of the way, a voice stopped him.

“What are you doing here!? The temple isn’t open to pilgrims!”

Green turned around. He didn’t know from where, but four people had appeared behind him, all dressed in dark brown robes with hoods up. He raised his hand in a placating way, but they were having none of it. Two stepped forward and grabbed him roughly by the upper arms, obviously attempting to wrestle him away from the curtain. Green furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance and stayed put. He refused to be moved.

“I’m not a pilgrim. I’m here to see Red,” he said, looking at the tallest of the people who seemed to be the leader here – what seemed to be a middle-aged lady with graying hair and dark brown eyes. He’d never seen her before; she was not part of the people in his temple.

She looked at him like he was some sort of insect squashed under her shoe. Green sneered at her before she could even say something.

“Champion Red does not hold audiences with commoners. Especially not those like you.”

Whatever that was supposed to mean. Besides, that was the biggest bullshit Green had ever heard. Red was the most powerful of them all, sure, but he had always been reachable for his charges. He never turned his back on someone. Whoever this bitch was, she should not be here. This made no sense at all.

“I’ll have you know I’m not a commoner, lady. Now let me go. Right now.”

She scoffed. “If you do not leave, we will remove you by force!”

Green rolled his eyes and scoffed in return. She was all wrong for Red’s normally gentle, albeit stoic behavior. He wouldn’t turn someone away, especially not here – on a dangerous mountain in the middle of a snowstorm at dusk. Night would set in soon and any mortal would die if they tried to get down the mountain right now.

“I’d like to see you try.” Instead of waiting for a reaction, he took matters into his own hands. Electricity crackled over his skin, making the two people holding him let go of his arms and step back. Green was not as powerful as Red when it came to elements, but he was a close second, even though he only held control over those elements represented by Eevee and its evolutions, not all of them like Red.

He held out a hand, fingers wrapped in dark purple aura. “Step away and leave me in peace,” he ordered. “I don’t want trouble. I just want to see Red.”

“Who are you?” one of the mortals asked; this one hadn’t done anything so far. He was a man, younger than the rest, and if Green wasn’t entirely off his rocker, there was some recognition in his eyes, as if he had seen Green on a painting or something.

“Green,” he replied. “Champion Green.”

He turned and pulled the curtain out of the way, now convinced that the mortals would leave him alone for at least a few minutes. He looked around in the unveiled part of the temple … and stopped in his tracks, dread gripping his heart. There was Red, but not what Green had hoped for.

Most of the second half of the temple was a large, square basin of water. It wasn’t very deep – if Green stepped into it, the water would probably reach up to his ankles. This is where the pristine and normal stuff ended. The water was spiked with icicles like stalagmites, some of them pointing several meters into the air. And in the middle of it all, the source of the ice, was Red. He sat there with his legs crossed, his hands resting palms-up on his knees, eyes closed. He wasn’t breathing. His skin was white like snow, his lips pale blue, his hair and clothing covered in white rime. He was … frozen in place.

“Red …” he gasped, almost sunk to his knees but caught himself to crawl in closer to his lover. Water soaked his pants, icy cold, but he didn’t care anymore. He raised his hand, fingertips only barely touching Red’s cheek. There were droplets frozen in his eyelashes like tears. He looked over his shoulder to the young priest standing behind him at the edge of the basin. His eyes were darkened. “What happened to him?”

The boy – really, he was nothing more than a boy – swallowed heavily. “After you … after you died, Champion Red retired up here. He didn’t want to be faced with the world that got to live while you were gone. He grieved and we thought we should let him. We were wrong. High Priestess didn’t think it was necessary to ask for help.”

“He is the greatest Champion of them all! He doesn’t need help!” The middle-aged woman, the High Priestess, apparently, exclaimed.

“He’s a Champion, but he is not immune to grief!” the boy returned. It clearly wasn’t the first time they had this argument.

“This is all because of you,” the High Priestess snarled, eyes focused on Green now. “You’re the reason the strongest Champion is dead!”

“He’s not dead!” the boy threw in. “And how dare you attack Champion Green like that, you ungrateful-”

Before he could continue, Green raised a hand and stood up. He came up to the High Priestess until he stood right in front of her. He was taller than her by several centimeters, and he could see a spark of fear in her eyes. Good.

“I saved the world,” he said, looking right into her eyes. “You can blame me all you want, but you’re only standing here because of me.”

She flexed her jaw. “You had too much power over Champion Red to begin with! He shouldn’t need anyone else! He should never have to rely on anyone but himself!”

Green narrowed his eyes. “You saw what was happening to him before all the others did.”

She looked away, but Green didn’t need to see her face in order to know he was right.

“And you kept it a secret,” Green concluded. “You moron! You should have told the other Champions! They might have known what to do before it set in! You may have doomed Red because of your inaction!” He turned around. “Get out of my sight! I will take care of this. Kid! You stay here. You seem to be the only one I can trust here.”

The other two mortals gripped the High Priestess to drag her to fuck knows where while the boy pulled the curtain closed again. He pulled his hood down, revealing a face that looked even younger than Green had first expected. He couldn’t be older than sixteen.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“Trace,” he replied.

“How did you get here? You weren’t alive when … when it all went down.”

Trace shook his head. “I came here when I was ten. To learn. I had wanted to go to your temple on the Indigo Plateau, but since your death, they haven’t taken in any new apprentices. So, when the High Priestess came down the mountain to look for new members, I came along. I didn’t expect any of this. I still got to meet Champion Red, but he was very subdued. He never interacted with us. It didn’t take long for the freezing to start.”

“How long has he been like this?”

“Five years. But it doesn’t make a difference. He was just a shell when I met him.” Trace hesitated for a moment. “Listen, I’ll be back in a minute. There’s something I want to show you.”

Green nodded, and then he was left alone with Red. Or what was left of him. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. So, here he stood, alive after what should have killed him, seeing the world that he saved … and in the end, it hadn’t been enough to save Red.

Green closed the short distance between him and Red, and settled down in the water next to him. He leaned his cheek on Red’s shoulder and put a hand on his chest. He could still feel Red’s heartbeat, but it was so slow and faint. Green had heard of Champions doing something like this, entering some sort of stasis. But he had never seen it. All he knew was that it was near impossible to get a Champion back from this. He clenched his eyes shut when he felt the sting of tears.

“You can’t do this,” he muttered, turning his face into Red’s shoulder. His hot tears weren’t enough to melt the ice covering his garments. “I came back for you. I came back for you! So please … don’t go.”

He was pulled from his grief by footsteps coming closer. Then, he heard a sharp trill, a sound so full of joy that it seemed to melt the icicles for a moment. Green knew that sound. He looked up and turned to see Trace stand in the doorway next to the basin, holding two very familiar shapes in his arms. One of them wiggled free of his hold and launched itself at Green. He was ready, and caught it against his chest where it tried its best to crawl into his jacket.

“Eva,” he choked, burying his face in her soft fur.

She mewled and whistled and sang, wiggling as if she didn’t know what to do with all that happiness she felt at seeing him again. He allowed himself to cry a few tears, now. Here she was, his beloved Sylveon, his Sacred. He felt a little less alone right now.

A second squeak and a tiny paw on his hand made him pull away from Eva and look down to where the Pikachu was patting at his legs as if trying to find out whether he was actually there. Eva crawled up on Green’s shoulder to take in her old place wrapped around his neck as Green reached down.

“Hey there, Pika,” he whispered. Pika willingly climbed into his arms and buried his face in his chest. He was whimpering quietly. “I missed you both, too. You’ve been here all this time?”

“Pika was devastated when Champion Red froze. And Eva hasn’t been responding to anyone but him or Red after your death,” Trace filled Green in.

Green nodded. “Thank you.”

Trace sat down at the edge of the basin, eyes locked on Red. He had a light in his eyes that looked older than he was. “What will you do now?”

Green pursed his lips. Good question. He wanted- he _needed_ to free Red. But how was he supposed to do that? He needed to think.

“Stay here. Think. I’ll find a way.”

\---------------------------

Green leaned his cheek on his hand, looking at Red’s unmoving form. “Bet you would hate what has become of this place. It wasn’t supposed to be your tomb, was it?” He sighed, dropping his eyes to the water. The icicles stayed unchanged – never growing, but never melting. “I’m so sorry, Red. I never wanted to do this. I never wanted to die and leave you here … I hope you can forgive me for this.”

Pika, from his place on Green’s lap, cooed soothingly and looked up at him with big eyes. Green smiled ever-so-slightly with secret, unshed tears in his eyes, and ran a hand over Pika’s head. Both he and Eva refused to leave Green’s side. Eva had settled on his shoulder like she used to back then, while Pika clung to whatever body part available – Green’s leg or arm or the front of his t-shirt, if Green didn’t carry him in his arms.

“You must miss him so much,” Green mumbled. “Me too.”

Eva and Pika cuddled in closer to him, and Green tried his best to hold them both tighter. He looked up at Red. Still the same as he was two weeks ago. He didn’t respond to anything Green did, and the ice wouldn’t melt no matter what Green did. He was running out of ideas.

The door slamming open and then shut again on the other side of the curtain pulled Green out of his musings. He furrowed his brow. As far as he knew, the storm outside was still raging on, so Green doubted that anyone would come up here – or that the High Priestess and her two buddies were pissed enough at Green to risk their lives out there.

The curtain got ripped open behind him and Green turned his head to look over his shoulder. A smile broke out on his face when he saw who stood behind him now. Two of his closest friends were here, staring at him with wide eyes. There was Leaf, the Champion of protection, and Ethan, the Champion of travel.

“You’re really back,” Leaf said, a slight tremble in her voice.

“When we heard the news, we didn’t believe it. But you’re here!” Ethan had the familiar slightly crooked smile on his face.

Green swallowed heavily, got up to his feet, and threw his arms around them both. Tears sprung to his eyes and he gritted his teeth against them, but to no avail. Leaf and Ethan hugged him back so tightly that he could feel it constrict his breathing, but he didn’t care. It felt so good to hug someone, to see familiar faces again.

They pulled back, and Leaf’s smile immediately dropped from her face when she glanced over Green’s shoulder at Red. Her eyes got wide and she covered her mouth with her hand.

“What the-”

“I know.”

Ethan shook his head in disbelief. “He hasn’t been in contact much in the last twenty years, but we should have noticed something about this …”

Green sneered. “The High Priestess made sure to hide everything about this as best as she was able. No-one knows.” He petted Eva’s head when she returned to his shoulder. “Do you know how I can undo this? Because I’ve got nothing.”

Leaf, now holding an excitedly squeaking Pika in her arms, shook her head apologetically. “No, sorry. The only Champions in a similar state I can think of are Hilda and Hilbert. N is the only one with them and I’m not sure how his progress is going.”

Green tried not to show his hope leaving him. If N couldn’t figure it out, a Champion so connected to life and nature, how could Green stand a chance?

Leaf shook her head and sat down at the edge of the basin. “This is … so much. You’re back, Red is like this.” She ran a hand through her long hair. “We really had a rough time without you, Green.”

“How did you come back, anyway?” Ethan asked. “We were convinced that was it.”

Green looked over at Red, a slight blush rising to his cheeks, and shrugged, mumbling about how he didn’t really know. Truth of it all? Green was almost convinced it was because he had promised Red. But that was a private thing to him, he didn’t want to say it out loud. Not before he told Red.

Ethan put a hand on Green’s shoulder. “Doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you’re here.”

“And here I’ll stay,” Green said. “I’m gonna get Red out of this. I won’t believe before he wakes up.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Leaf replied with a slight laugh.

“Don’t you worry, we’ll take care of the rest. We’ll tell the others what’s going on.”

Green nodded gratefully. “Will you stay with a bit?”

Leaf got up and grabbed him by the hands. “Of course! If you believe we’ll leave right now, you got another thing coming! We missed you.”

They sat down together, watching Red as if that would make him move. Pika switched between them to cuddle, and Eva stayed put on Green’s shoulder to nuzzle at his cheek every now and again. It almost felt like back then, Green and his closest friends, but Red’s silence was all wrong. He had never used to talk a lot, but he had spoken to Green when they were alone. He even spoke a few words when they were in a group with their friends. And when he had stayed quiet, he had still been warm, and his face and eyes and hands had been so expressive. It hurt to see him like this, and the pain got worse with every passing second.

“You know,” Leaf said, “he really changed after you … left. He was a shadow.”

“And he was scary,” Ethan added. “He lashed out way more than I’ve ever seen. You know Team Rocket, the ones who set the darkness free? Red slaughtered them all.”

Green switched between staring at Ethan and staring at Leaf. Red? His stoic, controlled Red? Killing? It sounded wrong, but on the other hand, what would Green have done if their roles had been reversed?

“Guess me being gone had a bigger impact than I thought.”

Leaf hit him on the back of his head. “Of course it had an impact, you dumbass! We love you.”

“You’ll get him back,” Ethan threw in with a glance to Red. “You’re definitely the one who could.”

\---------------------------

Green really wished he had the confidence that Ethan had in him. It’s been months now since he woke up, and there was no difference. Red was still doing his best impression of an icicle, the High Priestess still tried her best to kill Green with glares, and Green was out of options.

Nothing changed. And Green really didn’t know what to do. His powers didn’t seem to be able to even touch Red’s ice, not to mention melt it.

Green spent his days talking to Red as if he could hear him. He never got a reaction. He never got a change. Leaf and Ethan hadn’t been back here since their first visit, and Green couldn’t blame them for it. The only companions he had were Eva, Pika, and Trace. The kid was good company, but Green just really wanted Red back.

Green was seated facing Red again. It’s where he found himself most days. “I saw the sky last night,” he told Red, running his fingertip over the water surface. “The storm and clouds finally let up a bit. The stars looked really nice.”

Trace sat down next to him, Pika held in his arms. “Nothing is changing,” he said with a sigh.

“I’m starting to think that nothing will,” Green admitted.

Eva cooed and patted at Green’s face with her feelers. He chuckled slightly and scratched her behind her ears, but the pressing feeling behind his ribs wouldn’t leave. Should he just come to terms with the fact that he’d never get Red back? That he was just a tiny bit too late?

“Don’t say that,” Trace protested. “You’re Green! You can do it!”

Green raised a skeptic eyebrow. “How are you so sure?”

“I read stories about you when I was a kid. I was fascinated. And you stand here even though you should be dead. You can do anything! That’s your entire thing!”

“Yeah, fat load of good it’s done for me. I have no power in this stupid temple.” He paused. “In _this_ temple.”

“So?”

“So, we have to take advantage of the clear day and get down the mountain. With Red.”

“You wanna move him. Like this?”

Green shrugged. Ideas were forming in his head already. If he could get Red to their shared temple, maybe he could use the energies there to connect to him. To finally get through to him.

“Okay, fine,” Trace said. “We have a few Mamoswine and a Charizard in Pokéballs. We can use their help to get down. Where do you wanna go?”

“Indigo Plateau. It’s time for us to go home.”

“Absolutely not!” The High Priestess burst through the curtain. Green wasn’t even surprised that she had listened in on him and Trace. “You cannot take him with you. He belongs up here!”

Green held eye contact with her. “He belongs with me. You can’t stop us.”

“I can and I will!”

“I’m a Champion. You don’t stand a chance.” And as if to support his claim, thick mist started swirling around them. Green was adept in all of the elements represented in Eevee’s evolutions, but especially the element of fairy magic, a perfect tool to keep annoying mortals occupied.

After drenching the whole temple into mist, Green turned to Trace who was squinting at his surroundings, trying to make out what he was seeing.

“Come on, Trace,” he said, grabbing him by the arm.

It didn’t take long for them to get their things, grab the Pokéballs, and start their journey down the mountain with Red secure with them. Pika and Eva both sat on Green’s shoulder, half hidden inside the back of his coat to protect them from the cold. Even with no snowstorm, the weather up here wasn’t something that Green would call present.

“They’ll come after us,” Trace promised, looking over his shoulder at the temple.

“Oh, I’m counting on it.”

\---------------------------

And so, Green found himself in his familiar temple on the Indigo Plateau. It looked the same – large and inviting, made from white stone and marble with gold accents. The ceiling was painted to look like the sky during the times of day and night, spanning from one end to the other. In the front of the temple, there were spots for pilgrims to rest and pray, and stairs near the entrance lead down to the sleeping quarters. The second half of the temple, visible from the doors, belonged only to Red and Green.

On the right side of the room, half-hidden in a large alcove in the wall, was their bed. A huge thing made of dark wood, surrounded by a white, almost entirely opaque curtain. The soft, silky sheets were fresh, so Green assumed that their believers kept taking care of their part.

At the far back of the temple, there was the bath. A basin much bigger and deeper than the one in Red’s temple, filled with clear, warm water. And this is where they were right now.

Green had been welcomed with open arms and joyful rejoice. It had felt so good to be home. He had, however, asked the believers and Trace to leave him and Red be for the time being until Green had figured out whether his plan would actually work.

Eva and Pika had settled down in their own corner where they used to rarely sleep, but now stayed in to give Green space. Green had put on some of Red’s old ceremonial garments – dark red and gold silk robes, very similar to the one he had lost to the pond.

Red, still frozen, was seated in the shallow part of their bath, the water lapping at him. Green could see the beginnings of ice forming on the water, so he had to be quick.

He got into the water and sat down facing Red, this time much closer. Close enough to feel the cold. He closed his eyes, concentrated on the waves of the water, and called out to Red.

This was there temple. This was where their energies were most connected. Even after twenty years of neither of them stepping a foot in here, just the presence of their shared followers was enough to keep their energies connected to the place. This was home, this was what Green knew. This was where he could feel Red’s love in the walls.

Green focused on Red’s slow, faint heartbeat. He could barely hear it over the slight splashing sound of the water around them, but it was there. And when he went deeper, he could finally feel Red’s aura again. It was going the right way so far.

Red’s aura was weak, but it flickered like a candle in the wind when Green reached out to it. It shied away at first, then seemed to recognize him and tentatively allowed him in closer, unsure whether it was really him. And when it recognized him, Red’s body twitched. Green could feel it immediately.

_Yes, it’s me_ , he sent through the waves. _Help me. Wake up. Open your eyes._

And he repeated these words, over and over, while letting flames appear all over his body, heating up the water and steaming up the air around them.

Then, there was a shift in the energies, and the heat grew more powerful. Red’s power, Green knew immediately. Together, they heated the water enough that it would boil a mortal alive, but for Green, it felt relaxing, safe. Promising. Red was responding. He was doing something.

So, Green slowly pulled back, even through the pain he felt when Red’s aura basically did the equivalent of begging him to stay close. But Green would always be close. All Red had to do was open his eyes.

Green did so first, and he left his seated position to crawl in closer to Red. The ice melted in droplets from his skin and hair and face and clothes, leaving him whole and free. And then, finally, his eyelashes twitched once, twice, then he opened his eyes, blinking a few times against the light.

It had worked. Red was awake. And he stared at Green like he was a dream come to life. He probably was.

Green smiled, trying hard to keep his emotions in check, and raised up a hand. Red, still staring at him in disbelief, raised his own hand but stopped himself before he could touch Green’s hand with his.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Not the first words he had wanted to say, but the first ones that sprung to his mind.

“You’ll disappear,” Red whispered; his voice was rough and deep and so beautiful. “You’re a dream. I’ll touch you and you’ll be gone.”

“I won’t,” Green promised. “I’m right here. Just trust me, Red. I’m not going anywhere.”

Red’s dark, gray-brown eyes stayed focused on him when his fingertips lightly touched Green’s. He flinched back for only a moment, then pressed his entire palm against Green’s hand. His jaw dropped open a little bit and his eyes filled with tears. Green’s own tears were already running down his face.

Red’s hand curved around Green’s fingers, traveled up his arm and neck to his cheek. His fingers followed the path up over the slope of Green’s nose, along the arc of his brows, down the cut of his jaw, and finally to the bow of his lips. Green pressed a kiss to the pad of Red’s thumb.

Red made a small sound, a hopeful, hurt little thing. “You’re here,” he choked out.

“Sorry it took me so long.”

Red pulled him into a tight hug, then, crushing him against his chest as best as he could. Green hugged him back, crawled closer to him, almost tried to fuse himself with Red. He had missed him so much, had missed his voice and touch and most of all, the feeling of him just being there. And finally, for the first time since waking up in that pool of water, Green felt warm.

\---------------------------

They stayed in the bath together for a long while. Finally, they shed their robes and settled into the hot water together. Red settled with his back to Green’s chest so that Green could run his hands through his hair, scratch at his scalp like he used to. He let his hands roam over Red’s shoulders and creep down to his chest, linger in the place where Red’s heart beat strong and steady.

Red took one of his hands and pressed his mouth to the space between his thumb and index finger. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.” His voice was still quiet, but it didn’t sound like he was dying anymore, so that was plus. It got back to the deep, smooth sound that Green had grown to love back then.

Green nuzzled his nose against Red’s hair and pulled him in closer. “I’m so sorry, Red. I never wanted to do this to you.”

And Red shook his head, squeezed his hand, and tipped his head back against Green’s shoulder. “You saved us. And you’re here now.”

Green kissed his forehead, his closed eyelids, then his cheek. “I promised you.”

The water felt a little hotter, but maybe that was just Green’s blush. Red smiled serenely, and Green buried his face in his shoulder, wrapping his arms tighter around his waist.

“I missed you so damn much,” he mumbled, leaving short kisses on Red’s shoulder.

“I missed you, too,” Red returned. “I was … I wasn’t doing well.”

“I know. But hey, we’re both here, we’re alive. We did it.”

Green washed Red’s hair and helped him with the rest of his body like he used to, and Red gladly returned the favor. They traded touches and kisses, re-exploring once well-known bodies to get to know them again. Green lost count of the kisses, but none of them were on the mouth.

When they finally kissed, outside of the water and dried off, it was like fire and lightning and storms. Red’s careful hands gripped Green’s waist like they never wanted to let go ever again, and Green’s arms wrapped around Red’s broad shoulders, fingers tangling in his hair to control the direction Red’s head went in. Green’s mouth was open before he even knew what was happening, and one moment later, Red’s tongue was in his mouth, and Red picked him up like he weighed nothing.

Green barely noticed Red carrying him away from the bath and to their bed until they settled down in the middle of the huge mattress. He found himself in Red’s lap, arms and legs still wrapped around him, lips still locked with Red’s. They hadn’t parted for more than a second since they kissed after bathing.

He ran his hands up and down Red’s muscular back, followed up the line of his spine to the soft hair at the back of his head. Red’s arm stayed tightly wrapped around Green’s waist, a firm, secure, and somehow still gentle hold keeping Green in place, safe and so, so warm. It was glorious, to be with his lover like this again.

He sighed as he finally sunk down on Red, the feeling of it all so very familiar. For a moment, Green was brought back to all the nights spent like this, in each other’s embrace, before they had been torn apart. He banished the thought, buried his face in Red’s shoulder to kiss his neck, and let himself fall into welcoming heat and simmering pleasure. Red pulled him head from his shoulder and started pressing kisses to his cheek, his jaw, and his throat. Green tipped his head back with a sigh, carding his fingers through Red’s hair.

They moved together slowly, shallowly, Green’s hips moving in smooth rolls under the guidance of Red’s strong hands. Red met his movements, taking control of the rhythm they fell into together. Green wrapped his legs tighter around Red. His right hand settled in the middle of Red’s back, fingers spread wide, and his left one slid back up to the back of Red’s neck. They kissed again, deep and slow, and Green sighed into Red’s mouth.

“I missed you,” Red whispered again, this time against the spot right below Green’s right ear, a sensitive piece of skin that only Red knew about. Green could feel the smile pressed against his skin in a kiss, could feel the hot breath ruffling the strands of his hair oh so slightly.

Green cupped Red’s face, then, and pulled his head up so he could look him right in the eyes. He ran his thumb over Red’s cheekbone, and smiled, a fond, private little thing that he hoped conveyed everything that he felt in that moment. He leaned in closer.

“I missed you, too,” he breathed, his lips brushing against Red’s as he spoke.

Their angle shifted as their hips had kept up their rhythm, and Green gasped a quiet moan. His mouth was open when it met Red’s again, turning their kiss hot and wet and so very good. Red held him even tighter so they were basically seated chest to chest, touching as much as they could.

The doors to the temple flung open with a loud bang, and Green flinched a bit. Red’s hands stroked along his back to soothe him. The curtain was almost opaque, enough to obscure their bodies, but not enough to fully obscure exactly what they were doing here. Red didn’t stop, though, and his hands encouraged Green to do the same. So, Green settled, closed his eyes, and focused on Red.

That was until the commotion started. Green couldn’t hear exactly what, but the newcomers were yelling about something. Only problem was that Red and Green were the only ones here, and they didn’t plan on leaving their bed soon. Red rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed, and looked up to meet Green’s.

“Who the fuck-”

But Green was already way ahead of him, pushing against Red’s shoulder to have him fall back down on the mattress. Green propped himself up with one of his arms, and reached for the curtain with the other, all while Red ran his hands up and down his sides and kissed his throat, unconcerned from one moment to the next. Green fumbled for a moment until he finally found one end of the curtain, pulled it out of the way by only a bit, and looked outside. He rolled his eyes upon seeing who was out there and closed the curtain again.

“It’s these assholes from your temple,” he said, looking down to Red.

Red didn’t even answer. Instead, he turned Green over on his back. They rolled in the sheets, getting tangled up together, and Red pressed kisses wherever he could reach – Green’s shoulders and chest and neck and face. And Green kicked his legs and giggled like he was some sort of virgin, but he didn’t feel embarrassed. He felt good and happy, and no-one could stop him from enjoying his time with Red.

He wrapped his legs and arms around Red’s torso again, running his hands all over Red’s back, to his shoulders, and to his chest and upper arms. Green squeezed Red’s biceps which made him chuckled. Red lowered himself to his forearms, framing Green’s head, and buried his face in his neck. He tried to move in even closer to Green, as if that was possible.

They ignored the people on the other side of the curtain, content to lose themselves in each other, their touches, their kisses, their movements. Here, right now, in this bed and this temple, they were the only ones that existed. Green didn’t know how much time had passed when they finally came, but he didn’t care. This entire thing had been less about the orgasm and more about the closeness. He never wanted to let Red go ever again.

When they emerged from their bed, their unwanted visitors were gone. Whether they left by themselves or fled because they realized what they had walked in on, Green neither knew nor cared about.

He and Red got back into the bath one more time, again spent mostly just lying together and touching gently. Red’s fingers trailed over Green’s face again, following the shapes lovingly. It was as if he was trying to commit Green’s face to memory again, and it probably was exactly that.

Afterwards, they dressed in soft and comfortable garments, grabbed Pika and Eva who had fallen asleep in their corner, and got back into bed after changing the sheets. Lying face to face, wrapped in each other’s arms, it was as if they had never left.

The world could finally return to normal now that Green was alive and Red had awoken. It was all that Green could ask for.

**Author's Note:**

> Aaaand that was that! I had fun with this. Hope you did, too. Leave me a thing if you wanna.
> 
> Stay safe, friendos.


End file.
